'Signs' Labor preparing to revive controversial misinformation bill, Institute of Public Affairs' John Storey claims

Sky News AU

13-05-2025

The Institute of Public Affairs' John Storey has claimed the re-elected Albanese government could be moving to revive its controversial misinformation bill.
The bill, which Labor introduced to combat mis and disinformation online, was defeated in Parliament after the Coalition and crossbench joined forces to shoot down the proposal.
Critics of the legislation argued it would have had a chilling effect on free speech given the bill's capture of opinion and uncertainty over what would define misinformation.
For its part, the government argued the laws were limited in scope and necessary to protect the public and preserve faith in Australia's democratic institutions.
Then Communications Minister Michelle Rowland argued it would target "seriously harmful content" while preserving free speech.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Storey claimed Labor's re-election, with a significantly increased majority, meant the controversial bill could soon be back on the table.
"A lot of people are concerned that the thumping electoral victory that Labour had a week and a half ago will enable them to push forward a far more radical agenda than they did in their first term and there's no doubt that if Labour could, they would implement far more radical internet censorship laws than Australia currently has," he said.
"There's every sign that now that they have that large majority, they will do that."
The right-wing think tank's director of law and policy explained two key factors led him to believe the Albanese government would soon attempt to re-introduce the laws.
First, Mr Storey noted Labor had "never repudiated the misinformation and disinformation bill".
"When it failed to pass the Senate last year, Michelle Rowland, the Communications Minister at the time, said how important it was to protect democracy from misinformation and disinformation and that they were a threat to national security. However, we don't have the numbers in the Senate," he said.
"That's hardly a repudiation. That's hardly saying: 'Look, we've listened to the concerns about free speech and we're ditching this policy'.
"It suggests if we get another chance, we'll do it again."
Secondly, Mr Storey pointed to the elevation of Ms Rowland to Attorney-General, claiming her promotion despite a failure to push through the controversial bill suggested Labor wanted to revive it.
"These are all signs that need to be put to the Prime Minister. Do you intend to introduce these laws into parliament again?" he said.
Labor has not suggested it would seek to re-introduce the misinformation bill following the election, with the controversial legislation having barely been mentioned since the government canned it in November last year.
Despite this, Mr Storey claimed the bill could still be implemented in the coming months, suggesting Labor could even attempt to implement it indirectly.
"One thing I think Anthony Albanese may have learned from his first term, where he said on election night: 'Oh, we're going to introduce this voice and it was this radical proposal'. I think he might be a little more subtle this time," he said.
"It may be that they don't introduce a misinformation bill by just reintroducing the old bill. What it could be is enhancing the powers of the eSafety Commissioner to effectively give her powers over misinformation.
"There's currently a review of the Online Safety Act and some of the proposals in that review sound awfully like what was proposed under the misinformation bill."